Second Moiety

…Chris shifted his eyes from Liam back to the IPM, his eyes widening as his frustration became clearly visible across his face.

“How has the speed not gone down? It is still at maximum speed. What happened to air resistance over such a long distance?” Rhys asked, his voice clearly carrying a puzzled tone.

“You see, I made a mistake by taking it easy on you amateurs in the beginning.” Liam said, his tonality as gloated as ever.

“The error you fools made was thinking you had won this. Freya is the best among us in the Speed Concur, and we sent her up against you. The moment she entered that ranging alcove, I was sure you guys would lose.” Ivy said, her inflection as sadistic as ever.

“I was even surprised Cia managed to win the first moiety. I guess it’s our luck for taking it easy on you guys.” Braylen spoke, his tonality carrying no disrespect.

“Who gives a bloody fuck whether you took it easy on us? The fact is that we are currently in the lead, so don’t hype your hopes up.” Elisa said, her voice carrying traces of annoyance.

“Alright, stay ignorant. With this win, we will tie the score anyway.” Liam said, moving his eyes back toward the monoliths.

Seventy-five kilometers.

Eighty kilometers.

Eighty-five kilometers.

Ninety kilometers.

…Rhys placed his hands on his forehead.

“This is absurd. Freaking abnormal.” Rhys said, the tonality of his voice expressing distress.

“How is she even maintaining that kind of speed?” Elisa asked, her voice showing streams of worry.

…Chris simply stared at the monolith.

He pulled the image of the arrow into his mind and began analyzing it.

"What the hell? How is she able to maintain such thrust? This is abnormal. She is practically defying air resistance."

…Chris thought, still glaring at the monolith, his attention fixed solely on the image of the arrow.

"What exactly is the difference between this arrow and the last?"

…Chris asked himself.

Once again, he buried himself deep within his thoughts.

…An image of the previous arrow Freya had used appeared in Chris's mind, its structure and the Aura it had exuded forming alongside the image of the current arrow.

"If I am going by the principle of difference, then only the fletching is different."

…Chris thought, his eyes still fixed on the arrow displayed across the monolith as it drifted through the gallery.

"If I am going by the principle of Aura difference, the main point would be those serpent-like Auras stemming from that circular pod."

…Chris's eyes widened as everything began to click into place.

"That's it. It is that circular pod. The circular pod has those serpent-like Auras stemming out from it. Thrust, the application of great force. Usually, air resistance is supposed to prevent a constant application of thrust."

…Chris thought, his eyes remaining fixed on the monolith.

…

Freya looked at her drifting arrow with contentment.

She raised her left palm, positioning it slightly below her chin.

Slowly, she compressed it into a fist.

When it was fully compressed, she stretched out her thumb and index finger at abnormal speed, and then...

SOOOOOM!

…A large burst of Aura exploded from the nock of the arrow, propelling it forward at the same speed, but at a bewildering rate.

Ninety-five kilometers.

One hundred kilometers.

…As the arrow crossed the hundred-kilometer mark, it suddenly stopped.

All the built-up thrust had finally given itself up, allowing the arrow to drift through the air until it reached the hundred-kilometer mark.

Beep.

Beep.

…The IPMs beeped, indicating the completion of the arrow's drift.

…The IPMs recorded the result gracefully across their crystal-black, well-polished screens.

{LEFT RANGING ALCOVE}

{FARTHEST DISTANCE: 100 KILOMETERS}

…Chris, Rhys, and Elisa stared at the IPM in utter disbelief.

All three were stunned by the distance the arrow had covered.

…A light chuckle sounded.

A very sardonic chuckle.

“Well, Chris, do you still think you can win?” Liam asked, trepidation beginning to brew within his tone.

…Chris gritted his teeth, a small, thick lump appearing along the left side of his jawline.

"Shit. How is that even possible?"

…Chris said to himself, visibly annoyed.

“My bloody damn God.” Rhys said, his voice lighter than usual, his irritation almost tangible.

“How do you even do that?” Elisa asked, her tone complementing the distress of every one of them.

"What in the Zodiac's name is that? How did she reach that far?"

...Cia said to herself, her frustration beginning to spill through her composure.

“Well, not as confident as earlier, it seems.” Ivy said, stroking her ponytail as she lurched her upper body forward.

“The error you all made was thinking you could defeat us.” Braylen said, his voice carrying a confident modulation.

…Chris walked toward Liam, stopping a few inches away from him. He ensured that they remained face-to-face.

“Do you know why it’s funny, Liam?” Chris asked, staring directly at him, irritation brimming within his eyes.

“Would you kindly tell me why?” Liam asked, elevating his right eyebrow higher than his left, his sarcastic tone even more condensed.

“You were as confident as shit earlier on. You kept on niggling, spitting shit, and then you lost. Remember that.” Chris said, his eyes diminishing Liam in his thoughts.

…Liam stretched out his palm toward Chris’s face. He slowly squinted his eyes as he oscillated his index finger, moving it along the axis of Chris’s eyes, from left to right.

“You are right about something. You won, but you are also wrong about me spitting shit. I can assure you, Chris, you are not winning this shit. So fuck back to where you came from and watch Cia lose.” Liam said, his tone unusually calm. His eyes drifted from Chris back to the IPM as he smirked at the distance covered.

…Chris was pissed.

So pissed that he walked back toward Elisa and Rhys, standing between the both of them, his teeth gritting against one another violently as he struggled to contain his irritation.

“Chris, don’t mind that asshole.” Rhys said, his own irritation skimming across his face.

“Rhys, Chris, let’s leave it up to Cia. Whatever happens…” Elisa said as she exhaled, closing her eyes for a split second before opening them again.

“I know. We’re going to leave it up to Cia.” Chris said, looking at Rhys for a brief moment before both their eyes drifted toward Cia’s ranging alcove.

…A brief moment of silence dawned among everyone.

The IPMs suddenly beeped, indicating the turn of the next archer.

“She got a hundred kilometers, right? No big deal. All I need to do is beat that.” Cia reassured herself as her alcove elevated slightly, while Freya’s depressed.

“Well, let’s see how she will perform.” Ivy said, swerving her head to the side swiftly, her eyes drizzling with disdain.

…Elisa clasped her hands tightly.

She tried her best to prevent anxiety from consuming her.

“Cia, I hope you win this.” Chris thought, his eyes fixed on her ranging alcove.

…Cia inhaled.

Then exhaled.

She repeated the cycle three times, slowly regulating her breathing as she prepared herself.

…Chris stared at Cia, his eyes brimming with anxiety. He wanted nothing more than to prove Liam wrong.

…Cia stepped back slightly.

She pivoted her right foot as she receded her left, aligning her posture with the fulcrum point of her compound bow. She tilted her head to the left, her renal projectors adjusting and calibrating the pathway her mind was envisioning.

…Cia raised her compound bow to eye level.

She looked through the renal projector and through the cylindrical pore present on the compound bow.

Her aura slowly diffused outward.

Its effulgence began crafting her bowstring, evoking the image of a fairy beautifully playing the harp as her magical essence gently dripped from her.

…The image was truly a beauty to behold.

…Cia’s arms stretched outward, the compound bow perfectly aligned with her posture.

She pulled the bowstring as every drop of her aura diffused into it.

Her bowstring was plain, but thick. It possessed three layers so tightly overlapped that they appeared to be a single strand.

…Cia pulled the bowstring with precision.

Gracefully.

Yet with absurd strength.

Her renal projectors extended outward before compressing into one. The projectors settled into a single lens as the desired pathway became completely clear within her mind.

…Cia tugged the bowstring with grace, accompanied by an immense amount of strength.

Her arrow manifested.

Ribbons of glacier blue aura streamed from the tip of the pentagon, dewmer-shaped arrowhead.

…The arrowhead was sharp, while the ribbon-like aura streams added an ethereal beauty to its structure. The entire frame of the arrow exuded the appearance of an iceberg.

…As Cia reached her anchor point, her bowstring exuded streams of glacier blue aura. It evoked the image of steam puffing outward over an overheated hot spring.

Cia’s fingers tapped against the bowstring.

Electromagnetic strands immediately manifested around every edge of the arrow.

…She released the arrow.

The electromagnetic strands jolted it forward at high speed through the flagpole embrasure.

ZOOM!

…It was fast.

Really fast.

Yet it moved gracefully through the gallery as the IPM immediately registered its speed.

{RIGHT RANGING ALCOVE ARROW SPEED: 25,000M/S}

…The arrow careened through the gallery, flying with elegance, grace, and a touch of beauty as it maintained its trajectory.

One Kilometer

Two Kilometers

Three Kilometers

“Disappointing. She could not reach the maximum speed.” Braylen said, his eyes fixed on his monolith, his voice directed toward Liam.

“What did you expect, Braylen? She was never going to stand a chance.” Ivy complemented Braylen, the tone of her voice as diminishing as ever.

…Liam only smirked.

Then he chuckled disgustingly.

“She couldn’t reach it. How disappointing. I really expected more from her.” Braylen said, disillusionment filling his tone.

“OH my God.” Ivy averred funnily.

“UGMPH.”

Ivy puffed air through her nose, deliberately drawing attention to just how sarcastic she was being.

“I honestly can’t believe you thought she could reach it.” Ivy said, looking at Braylen, her eyes clearly showing how pissed she was.

“Ivy, don’t mind Braylen. I think he is getting soft, having pity on our opponents.” Liam said, chuckling as disgustingly as ever.

“Nah, he is not getting soft. He is just scared.” Ivy said, clearly intending to draw Liam’s attention to the matter.

“THE FUCK!” Braylen vociferated directly into Ivy’s face.

“The bloody fuck, Ivy, are you crazy?” Braylen was pissed. Not angry, he was pissed.

“Oh, shut the fuck up, Braylen. You are scared of the Frost bitch after how she fucking manhandled you. Stop being such a CUNT and drop the fucking matter.” Ivy articulated, facing Braylen for a moment before swinging her head back and grabbing her ponytail, stroking it sarcastically.

…Braylen was pissed.

The veins along the side of his forehead became visible as he struck and clashed his teeth against one another. His palms clenched into fists, a compressed lump appearing along the side of his right chin, clearly depicting how annoyed he was.

He moved closer to Ivy.

His intention was clear.

He wanted to pound her face in.

…As Braylen moved closer to Ivy, he raised his fist, aiming directly for her face.

“Ugh, Braylen, what are you doing?” Ivy said, stepping back a few inches.

…Braylen did not answer her.

He simply strolled away from Liam’s side and continued toward Ivy, who kept moving backward little by little.

“Okay, Braylen, I’m sorry for the shit I said. You know I did not mean it.” Ivy said, clearly intending to placate Braylen’s anger.

…Once again, Braylen did not reply.

He stepped closer to Ivy, closing the distance between them as he raised his fist higher, preparing to plant it directly on her face.

Ivy’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Fear, shock, and agitation overwhelmed her.

As Braylen’s fist was about to strike her face, Liam stepped in between them.

…Braylen’s fist flew toward Ivy’s face.

The pressure surrounding it could be felt by Chris, Elisa, and Rhys.

And that pressure was intense.

Braylen had no intention of sparing her face.

His fist continued forward toward the frozen Ivy, who remained rooted in place, still caught in shock.

Then Liam stepped in.

The fist that was about to land on Ivy’s face instead landed in Liam’s right palm, caught effortlessly between his thumb and index finger, which were stretched outward.

…Braylen and Liam’s hands hovered in place as a huge gust of compressed wind fell across both of them.

“Nah, Braylen, you can’t go around hitting Ivy, now can you?” Liam said, clearly overpowering Braylen’s pumped fist with only two fingers.

“URRGH!”

Braylen chirped like an angry hawk.

…He pulled his fist out of Liam’s clutch, glaring viciously at Ivy as he walked back toward his original position in front of the monolith.

“Okay, Ivy, next time, do yourself a favor and shut the bloody fuck up.” Liam said, his smile actually genuine, but with a large amount of sarcasm dripping from its edges.

…Liam adjusted the ruffled patches of Ivy’s hair as he escorted her back toward their position, Braylen on his right and Ivy on his left.

Braylen paid no attention to Ivy.

Ivy simply had her face plastered toward the monolith before her.

“NO way. Liam stopped that punch with two fingers.” Chris said to himself, agitation complementing his inner voice.

“How strong is this Liam guy?” Rhys said, clearly bothered.

“With the way he stopped such an intense punch from Braylen, a punch so intense its pressure drifted into our axis, Liam easily stopped it with two fingers. Put simply, that guy is bad news.” Elisa said, her words accompanying Rhys’s concern.

“How strong are you…? LIAM.” Chris averred in his mind, saying nothing about the dialogue occurring at his side.

Four Kilometers

Six Kilometers

Eight Kilometers

Ten Kilometers

…The arrow moved swiftly, but as usual, gracefully.

The ribbon-like structure emanating from the tip of the arrowhead allowed it to maintain a piercing speed as it followed its trajectory perfectly, like a bird gliding through the sky.

…The arrow showed no sign of stopping anytime soon.

The IPMs indicated no drop in speed, giving no indication that it had reached its peak.

…Liam stared intently at the arrow, his eyes expectant of Cia’s failure.

…Chris watched the arrow blitz across the gallery, the ocular nodes capturing every detail smoothly and perfectly.

Freya’s arrow was brutally fast.

But Cia’s arrow was nothing other than graceful.

Twelve Kilometers

Fourteen Kilometers

Sixteen Kilometers

Eighteen Kilometers

…The arrow continued flying through the gallery, clearing kilometers with ease as its speed showed no signs of wavering.

…Cia watched her arrow intently, expecting not a single error.

Her eyes remained fixed directly on the arrow through her renal projectors.

Twenty Kilometers

Twenty-Four Kilometers

Twenty-Eight Kilometers

“Wow, I am actually impressed. She is managing to keep the arrow at 25,000m/s.” Liam said, his words clearly carrying no form of encouragement or praise.

“We will see how long you can keep it up, CIA.” Liam said in his mind, his inner voice filled with scorn and contempt for Cia, nothing more and nothing less.

Thirty Kilometers
Thirty-Five Kilometers
Forty Kilometers
Forty-Five Kilometers

…Although Cia’s arrow showed no sign of increasing its speed, it was certainly maintaining a steady pace. Kilometer after kilometer continued flying by as the arrow propelled itself forward, its trajectory remaining stable as it cut through the gallery…

…Freya watched the arrow from her alcove. She did nothing but steal a glance at Cia before breathing out a sarcastic gasp.

“Stunning. Everything about this arrow is simply stunning.” Rhys said, his smile bristling as he looked toward Chris’s direction.

“She could actually win this.” Elisa said, her smile bristling with growing excitement.

…Chris smiled at Rhys and chuckled in Elisa’s direction.

…Chris’s eyes fixed themselves on Elisa’s smiling figure.

“Was she always this beautiful?” Chris thought internally.

…The thought echoed in Chris mind for seconds, as the surroundings of the apex range struck him back down to the situation at hand.

“Snap out of it, Chris.” Chris scolded himself childishly.

…Chris clasped both palms against his cheeks, attempting to evict the thought from his mind before peering back toward the monolith.

Fifty Kilometers
Fifty-Five Kilometers
Sixty Kilometers
Sixty-Five Kilometers

…Annoyance began to seep from the edges of Liam’s lips.

“How the fuck is that arrow still going? It is not even at maximum speed.” Liam said, his annoyance as tangible as ever.

…Cia scrutinized the arrow as it continued flying through the gallery, her eyes following every movement with unwavering concentration.

Seventy Kilometers
Seventy-One Kilometers
Seventy-Two Kilometers

…The IPMs suddenly began indicating a drop in the arrow’s current speed.

Air resistance had finally caught up to it.

25,000m/s
24,000m/s
20,000m/s

“Hmm, that’s more like it.” Liam said, his tone carrying a disgustingly satisfied happiness.

…Both Ivy and Braylen remained silent at Liam’s side. The tension that had stirred earlier had not yet settled down. Liam noticed it, but decided not to pay attention to it.

“Oh no, no, no, no, no. This can’t be happening.” Rhys said, concern filling his tone.

“There must be a perfectly good reason for this, right? Cia should have a plan, right?” Elisa said, once again clasping her hands together as anxiety began to overwhelm her.

“As I said, let’s leave it up to Cia. She knows what she is doing.” Chris said, his eyes genuinely hoping that Cia knew exactly what she was doing.

“Cia, I hope you know what you are doing.” Chris said, his inner voice carrying trails of anxiety.

“I knew this would happen. Air resistance finally caught up. It’s a bit early, but let’s finish this.” Cia’s inner voice carried confidence.

It was not flickering.

It was not wavering.

It was there.

Unwavering confidence.

…Cia elevated her right palm toward its corresponding ear. She clasped her thumb and middle finger together for a moment before clashing them against one another.

SNAP!

…The sharp echo of her fingers snapping resounded throughout the alcove.

Her arrow responded in a heartbeat.

…The glacier-blue aura ribbons at the tip of the arrowhead constricted.

Then they elongated at high speed, stretching toward the end of the shaft.

The ribbons bonded completely with the shaft of the arrow.

And instantly…

ZOOM!!!

…The arrow jolted forward, leaving a sonic boom in its tracks.

The IPM immediately indicated a staggering 28,500m/s as the arrow soared across the gallery.

Seventy-Three Kilometers
Seventy-Four Kilometers
Seventy-Five Kilometers

…The kilometers began flying by at a steady pace once again.

“It may not have reached its maximum speed, but at the rate it’s going, it should be able to beat Freya’s record.” Cia’s inner voice brimmed with confidence, a slight chuckle escaping her lips.

“Yes.” Chris’s voice trailed out slightly.

What was intended to remain a thought had escaped his lips as a spoken word.

“Alright.” Rhys’s voice escaped, his eyes deeply fixed on the monolith.

…Liam paid no attention to them.

He only watched the IPM and snickered, his confidence abnormally exuberant.

Seventy-Eight Kilometers
Seventy-Nine Kilometers
Eighty Kilometers

…The new speed the arrow had attained propelled it forward at an abnormal rate.

Eighty-Five Kilometers
Ninety Kilometers
Ninety-Five Kilometers
Ninety-Seven Kilometers

GUMPHH!!!

…The arrow stopped.

Trails of wind bristled from its edges as air resistance finally overwhelmed its forward momentum. The arrow had reached the end of its course.

It could move no farther.

…The IPMs beeped.

The monolith clearly displayed the stationary arrow.

{RIGHT RANGING ALCOVE}
{FARTHEST DISTANCE: 97KM}

…Cia’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Her expression clearly echoed the words:

This cannot be possible.

…Chris gritted his teeth.

He closed his eyes sharply, turning around before immediately turning back to face the monolith.

…Elisa elevated her head slightly higher before returning it to its normal position.

…Rhys simply shook his head in disbelief.

“Wow, she almost reached it. ALMOST.” Ivy said, her voice slightly returning to its normal tune.

“I expected more, but that’s it.” Braylen said, his expression baseless.

“Failure. That must be a nice vibe.” Liam said, laughing quietly.

…The monoliths before them beeped as the score allocation system kicked in.

RANGING ALCOVE SCORE ALLOCATION

LEFT RANGING ALCOVE: 2 POINTS
RIGHT RANGING ALCOVE: 2 POINTS

…Liam stared at the monolith with a disgusting strain of satisfaction plastered across his face.

…His eyes slowly drifted toward Chris.

“And Chris, with that, the scores are tied.” Liam said, a sadistic, twisted, and wry smile curving across his lips.

…Chris stared at that smile.

Of everything Liam had done since the Concur began, that smile annoyed him more than anything else.

It was smug.

It was provoking.

And Chris wanted nothing more than to wipe that fucking smile off his face.